Durbin: Senate Should Be Focused On Public Health & Economic Crisis, Not Confirming Right-Wing Judges

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today outlined what the Senate should be focused on as it reconvenes in Washington, D.C., including ramping up coronavirus testing, securing personal protective equipment for frontline workers, providing oversight of the Paycheck Protection Program, and expanding vote by mail ahead of the November election. In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin called out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for being solely focused on confi… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $25 Million In Federal Funding To Help Illinois Health Centers Expand COVID-19 Testing

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced that Illinois will receive $25,226,505 in federal grants to support expanded COVID-19 testing at 45 Community Health Centers (CHCs) across the state. This funding comes from the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, which was signed into law on April 24th. Congressional Democrats fought to ensure that this legislation included a total of $25 billion in new funding to help improve our n… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Harris Press For Emergency Funding To Combat Hate Crimes During COVID-19 Pandemic

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) today called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL), and Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to ensure that communities have the resources necessary to combat hate-motivated violence following a documented increase in hateful incidents and messages … Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth, Colleagues Call For $26 Billion In Next Coronavirus Relief Package To Support Research Workforce

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senators Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and 31 of their Senate colleagues today in advocating for protections for the U.S. scientific research community during the coronavirus pandemic. Although coronavirus-related research is a current federal government priority, most other research has slowed or stopped due to closures of campuses and laboratories. The people who comprise the research workforce - gra… Continue Reading

Durbin, Takano, Brown, Jayapal, Warren Unveil Plan To Grant Full Student Loan Discharges To Defrauded Student Borrowers In Next COVID-19 Relief Package

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Representative Mark Takano (D-CA-41), Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07), and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), today announced a plan that will grant full student loan discharges to three specific emergency categories of defrauded student borrowers. The plan would require eligible loans to be discharged within 30 days of enactment and provides timelines for the Department of Education to ta… Continue Reading

Durbin, Menendez Press Trump Administration On Deportation Of COVID-19 Positive Migrants

WASHINGTON - Following reports documenting that the Administration has deported dozens of Guatemalan, Mexican, and Haitian nationals who tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in their home countries, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led 13 of their Senate colleagues in calling on the Trump Administration to mandate COVID-19 testing for all migrants before they are deported or transferred … Continue Reading

Durbin To Illinois Meat Processing Companies: How Will You Protect Workers From COVID-19 Infection In Light Of President Trump's Executive Order?

SPRINGFIELD - Today, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, wrote letters to five Illinois meat processing companies today asking them to provide information about how they plan to protect workers from COVID-19 infections in the aftermath of President Trump's executive order to keep meat plants open during the pandemic. In a letter to JBS in Beardstown, Tysons Meats in Hillsdale, Smithfield Foods in Monmouth, Aurora Packing Company in North Aurora, and Ra… Continue Reading

Durbin, Duckworth Call For Tax Credit Expansion To Help Working Families During Coronavirus Economic Downturn

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) in leading a group of 34 other Senators in a letter to Senate Leaders calling for a temporary expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) in the next coronavirus relief package. As the economic effects of COVID-19 are expected to last into next year, this would put money back in the pockets of working Ameri… Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses COVID-19 Response With Illinois Community Health Centers

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today, on a call with CEOs from Illinois Community Health Centers (CHCs) and Jordan Powell, President and CEO of the Illinois Primary Health Care Association (IPHCA), discussed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Illinois and how CHCs are fighting the pandemic on the ground. Durbin thanked the CHC representatives for everything their centers and health workers have done so far to help Illinoisans and pledged he would continue to push for a direct … Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses COVID-19 Relief With 10th District Residents & Cook County Commissioner Gainer

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined a community conference call with 10th District residents and Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer to discuss COVID-19 relief and how the pandemic is continuing to affect local governments, small businesses, and essential services. Durbin also discussed his support for an extension of the 2020 Census, food insecurity, unemployment insurance, and helping communities of color access testing. "Illinois' local governments are facing incr… Continue Reading

Durbin To UFCW Members: Worker Health And Safety At Meat Plants During Pandemic Is A Top Priority

SPRINGFIELD - Today, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, spoke with the United Food and Culinary Workers (UFCW) to discuss President Donald Trump's executive order to keep meat-processing plants operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Durbin shared his concerns that the executive order ignores the health and safety recommendations of public health experts. He also discussed his support for more personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing for meat p… Continue Reading

Durbin Discusses COVID-19 Response With VA Secretary Wilkie

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today discussed the response to the COVID-19 pandemic with Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Robert Wilkie. Durbin urged Wilkie to provide more personal protective equipment (PPE) at VA Medical Centers in Illinois for staff and residents who are battling outbreaks. As of April 30, the VA has 8,597 positive veteran cases of COVID-19 nationwide, including 229 at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, 106 at Hines VA Medical Center, and 209… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls On Illinois Education Professionals To Sound The Alarm On For-Profit Colleges

SPRINGFIELD - With high school seniors weighing options about their educational futures during the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) is enlisting the help of Illinois high school principals, counselors, and teachers to warn college-bound students and their families about the risks associated with attending for-profit colleges. For-profit colleges enroll only eight percent of post-secondary students, but they account for 33 percent of all federal student loan defaults. In today… Continue Reading

Durbin, Perdue, Young, Coons To Introduce Bipartisan Bill Addressing Shortage Of Doctors, Nurses

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, along with Senators David Perdue (R-GA), Todd Young (R-IN), and Chris Coons (D-DE) today announced they will introduce bipartisan legislation, the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, to provide a temporary stopgap to quickly address our nation's shortage of doctors and nurses, which poses a significant risk to our ability to effectively respond to the COVID-19 crisis. … Continue Reading

Durbin Joins Harris, Kelly To Announce Legislation To Establish Task Force To Combat Racial And Ethnic Disparities In COVID-19

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) and Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL-02) to announce the bicameral COVID-19 Racial and Ethnic Disparities Task Force Act, legislation to bring together health care and other policy experts, community-based organizations, and federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial leaders to confront the racial and ethnic disparities of the coronavirus pandemic head on. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the urgen… Continue Reading

Durbin Joins Harris, Kelly To Announce Legislation To Establish Task Force To Combat Racial And Ethnic Disparities In COVID-19

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) and Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL-02) to announce the bicameral COVID-19 Racial and Ethnic Disparities Task Force Act, legislation to bring together health care and other policy experts, community-based organizations, and federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial leaders to confront the racial and ethnic disparities of the coronavirus pandemic head on. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the urgen… Continue Reading

Durbin, Klobuchar Lead Colleagues To Urge Bureau Of Prisons To Release Critical Demographic Data As Country Confronts Coronavirus Pandemic

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) led a group of 14 colleagues on a letter to Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director Michael Carvajal urging him to release system-wide demographic data in the BOP's public reporting of the number of incarcerated people and staff impacted by COVID-19-including data on the age, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, pregnancy status, sexual orientation, and disability of all incarcerated people and BOP staff who have been tested for, con… Continue Reading

Durbin, Klobuchar Lead Colleagues To Urge Bureau Of Prisons To Release Critical Demographic Data As Country Confronts Coronavirus Pandemic

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) led a group of 14 colleagues on a letter to Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Director Michael Carvajal urging him to release system-wide demographic data in the BOP's public reporting of the number of incarcerated people and staff impacted by COVID-19-including data on the age, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, pregnancy status, sexual orientation, and disability of all incarcerated people and BOP staff who have been tested for, con… Continue Reading

Durbin Statement On Death Of First Female Federal Inmate Due To COVID-19

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a lead author of the First Step Act - landmark prison reform legislation - today released the following statement regarding the death of Andrea Circle Bear who is believed to be the first female federal inmate to die of COVID-19. Ms. Circle Bear was a 30-year-old federal inmate who gave birth on a ventilator in early April and had a pre-existing medical condition: "Simply put, this trag… Continue Reading

Durbin Calls On CDC To Fund Efforts To Build Community Health Workforce To Tackle Health Disparities In Communities Of Color

SPRINGFIELD - Following reports of alarming disparities among communities of color in COVID-19 mortality, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today pressed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to support state and local efforts to bolster community workforce capacity for contact tracing and other outreach efforts in addressing this public health challenge. To succeed in combatting COVID-19, and lay the groundwork to address underlying social determinants of health, Du… Continue Reading